Manuscript

I saw Manuscript (Paul Grellong) at the Loeb Ex. It's the story of a Harvard undergrad at home on break in NYC, inviting his best (now Yalie) friend and the friend's girlfriend over. ( Hijinks ensue, of course. (spoilers) )

The set included lots and lots of book-filled shelves, some action figures, and more usual furniture; much homier than usual rooms in theater, to me: I live in a book-infested place, after all.

The acting was mixed: the two guys were great, while the woman was much weaker (plus they dressed her funny, in that the dresses didn't play to her strengths), and completely unsympathetic as a result. I have the impression that the story was supposed to leave me feeling more mixed about the action, but she didn't make that reasonable.

Still, it was quite a good show. I'd love to see it again with a more balanced cast, though the surprise of unlayering the plot wouldn't be the same as the first time.

Mayyim Hayyim gallery: Mikvah Project

Last night was the opening of the Mikvah Project in Newton, at Mayyim Hayyim. I'd heard Leah Lax talk about the show this summer, showing slides and telling stories, and stories about the gathering of the stories and how the pictures were done. And I'd seen the website, too. So I suppose I shouldn't've been surprised that there wasn't anything new for me to see, nothing I hadn't looked at before, though there were invitations to talks on related topics coming up in the next few months.

This was balanced out by getting a tour of the mikvah*, which I hadn't seen before. ( Read more... )

Chocolate tour

This weekend Taza chocolate had an open house (along with Albertine Press), so I toured their facility, which is in the same building that Arisia has storage in (less than a mile from my house!).

It smells wonderful, btw, a lovely chocolate scent permeating the air. I remember feeling the same way about Hersheytown, a million years ago when I visited as a kid, though I'm certain that this chocolate smell is much more highbrow :-). ( Read more... )

P.S. No Oompa-Loompas were seen on this tour, nor did anyone fall into a chocolate river or turn into a blueberry (which is particularly good because they don't have fruit chocolates).